Love
by TokioJapon
Summary: Nicholas and Bobby are in High School now. Bobby has distanced himself from Nicholas, but Nicky's infatuation with him won't waver. Where will they take their lives and who will plummet to the abyss? POV Changes Periodically. Language and Sexual Content later. *Loosely based on the song Love by Daughter*
1. Sophmore

IT BEGINS, BEING A SOPHMORE

~Nicholas~ 

Approximately 5:45 AM. September 1st. I eat a bowl of cereal, shower, and dress; Blue button up, a pair of jeans and my Levi Chuck Taylors

I brushed my teeth then I combed my hair, the way my mom hates it. She wasn't up yet but her boyfriend of two ungodly years, Roy, was.

"Morning kiddo." He says. He knows I don't approve, and he knows I absolutely can't stand his existence. I don't want him dead, like my dad, I just don't want him here; on this planet, in this country, in my home.

"Good morning," I smile.

"First day back huh?" He says. "You're going to…twelfth?"

"Tenth. I'm 15." I tell him.

"Yes." He says. Conversation with him was about as fun as talking to a wall. No, I prefer talking to walls. They're meant to be flat and boring, he's just a dick.

"Got a girlfriend?" He asks.

I glare at him.

"Nah, you're probably not old enough for that." He smiles.

"Not everyone has a girlfriend." I say. He smirks.

"What time does your bus come? " He asks. I could tell I was beginning to irritate him.

"6: 45." I say.

"It's about,"

"It's 6:20 on the dot." I tell him and he sips his coffee.

"My, you're very intelligent."

"How so?" I ask.

"You always get the time right. You never even check a watch or a clock." He says and takes another sip of his coffee. "Fascinating."

"I guess." I say. We sit in the living room. He's on the couch, I'm in my chair. Another 12 minutes I'm stuck with him.

"Well I better get going." Roy stands. "Someone's got to be the man of the house." He says not so much mockingly but somehow candidly and smiles at me as he leaves out the door.

I sit in the dark until 6:40. The bus stop's right at the corner. I get my back pack and I go.

I didn't know, no, I don't talk to anyone on my bus. I don't like any of them. They're boring and really stupid. Like really, really stupid. They're all so full of themselves and arrogant and pretentious. It gets on my nerves.

Bobby used to ride my bus, back in Junior High. Now, he's at another stop and he'll be driving soon. Could I ever get him to drive me?

I start down the dreary hallways. Friends? What friends. He's more than a friend…to me. I get to my locker, and there he is a few lockers up.

"Hey Nicky," He'd always call me. I loved it because it was his name for me.

"Hey Bobby. How was your summer?" I ask sweetly.

"Oh you know same old same old. Didn't see a lot of you, though" He says almost apologetically.

"Well when your family travels to Florida, what can you do? I see you didn't get any tanner." I laugh. He was some sort of Italian, or Native American, or Portuguese because he had the most beautiful brown skin.

"Hey you know I don't tan well." He laughs.

"Yeah." I look down to hide my blush.

"Whose class are you in?" He asks.

"Ms. Greydoyle" I say.

"Oh. I got Mr. Sanders"

"Yeah." I nod. "Guess we're not in the same class this year."

"Guess not." He says.

"…"

"Pity." He smiles then turns. "Hey girls."

"Hey Bobby. How was your summer?" An ebony girl, Jenna, asks. She's popular and beautiful. Every guy, well not me, but everyone else wanted a piece of her.

"Had a blast. I was in Florida with the fam." Bobby says.

"I can see. You got a tan." One girl says.

"Yeah I tan pretty well." He bullshits and I smile uncomfortably. He only wanted their attention.

"Hi Nicholas." One of the other girls says. Vicki, I think is her name. She's pretty and blonde and might have a crush on me. She and Jenna claim to be cousins.

"Hello." I say softly. She smiles at me. She always does. It's so weird.

"…well. We'll see you later." The girls leave. Bobby smiles in their direction as they go. Jenna looks back, and he even winks at her.

"How do you do that?" I ask.

"Do what?" Bobby says.

"Deal with them." I cringe a bit.

"Nicky, they're girls. Come on." He says.

"But they're just girls, what's so special about them?" I ask and he looks at me like I'm dumb or something.

"Grow up, Nicky." He says then the bell rings. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." I say dejectedly. They are just girls. We're best friends…or something like that. I turn and go to class. Everything else sucks when I'm not around Bobby.

I go to Ms. Greydoyle's class. Everyone in there seems like another group of pretentious jerks. I sit quietly in my seat but I'm then approached by some pale kid with dark hair and eyes.

"You a sophomore too?" He asks abruptly. I look around; he is indeed talking to me.

"Uh, yeah. You?"

"Uh-huh. Everyone in here is a junior or a senior. You must be pretty smart." He nods.

"I get by." I shrug. I was recommended for a whole lot of accelerated and honors classes, but I didn't necessarily sign up for them. I'm guessing my mom added them to my schedule. I didn't really care. This boy, this incredibly pale boy, laughs.

"I'm Ian." He smiles. He has a nice smile.

"I'm Nicholas."

"Nick? Nice to meet you." He says. I guess we're friends now. We might as well be, because it turns out we have every single class together.

Every so often in the halls, I try to approach Bobby but he either pulls an "I'm too busy" or a "maybe next time/later" which is never the case. This kid, Ian, keeps inviting me out to go somewhere, but I'd rather become more familiar with him first, seeing as he's a bit creepy.

At home, I try to work up the nerve to call Bobby, but I never do.

"How was your first day back, dear?" My mother asks at dinner.

"Yeah kiddo, how was it." Roy asks. He got back from work at 5.

Uggggghh.

"'Was fine. Boring. But fine."

"How's Robert been?" She asks. She's referring to Bobby. She's really the only one who calls him that though.

"He's fine." I shrug.

"It doesn't sound like he's fine. Now what's the matter?" My mother asks.

"Yeah kiddo what's up?" Roy keeps repeating after her.

I glare at him for a moment. "He hasn't really been talking to me."

"Oh well he is an athlete. He's just busy. Why don't you two get together during the weekend or something? I'll call Alice and,"

"No Margaret, I don't think that's it." Roy says.

"What Roy?" I say curtly.

"It seems like this Robert kid just doesn't want to be your pal anymore kiddo."

"That's not true." I tell him. He doesn't say anything and continues eating, the bastard. "I've lost my appetite."

"Now, Nicholas," My mother tries to stop me but I leave the table and go up to my room. I lay on my bed for a while. Then I decide to call Bobby.

"Hello?" I hear a gruff, older man's voice.

"Oh, hello? This is Nicholas. Is Bobby there?"

"No. He didn't come home yet. I thought he was with you. You know where he is?" Bobby's father asks harshly.

"Um, no." I say. I hear a growl.

"Well he's not here, Nicholas. I'll have him call you if his ass ever comes home."

"Oh well, Goodb-" Bobby's father hangs up abruptly. He's really bad-tempered. I did wonder where Bobby was though.

Not want to be friends anymore? We've been friends forever.

It was really unnerving, that and the fact there were all these crows outside my window…

I decide to go to bed.


	2. Crows

CROWS

The second week into school Bobby actually decided to talk to me at lunch. Jenna was absent so he sat with me.

"What's up?" He asks.

"Um, nothing?" I say and continue eating.

"Come on what's wrong?" He asks. He's such an ass sometimes.

"You haven't talked to me since the beginning of the year. It's like you've been avoiding me or something." I say. He gives me a peculiar look.

"Look Nicky, I have other friends. I'm not trying to neglect you." He says really sincere. I force a smile. "I'm going to the field to play baseball with some friends after school. Wanna come?"

I don't think mom would mind. "Do I know any of them?"

"I don't know. Come find out." Bobby says.

"Well, when can we hang out? Just us?" I ask him.

"Nicky, we're not little kids anymore. You need to make some more friends. I have." Bobby tells me. I just frown. "Do you want to come or not?"

He gives me the ultimatum. I shrug. "Sure." I say. He smiles. We make small talk about sports and girls and crap. I sort of regret accepting, but I was sick of not hanging out with Bobby.

After school, Bobby and his friends and I walked to the park for a game of baseball. I'm not the best, but I'd always play with Bobby so it shouldn't be too hard.

I'm against him, on a team of burly guys I don't know.

I'm in the field, covering third, one of the guys is up to bat. The guy on my team pitches the other hits it. The ball rolls on the ground and a blonde kid grabs it. There's an airplane in the sky. It looks cool. It's flying pretty low. I can it hear it. It's so loud. Then I hear stomping next to my base. I see the ball behind me.

"What the hell was that?!" One of the guys yells at me.

"Why didn't you catch the ball?" Another says.

"The airplane. It was low and-"

"Someone else get third!" One of the boys called. Bobby's team laughs. He whispers something into a boy with a cap's ear.

"Nice one Nicki!" Bobby laughs. I frown. He's mocking me. I don't want to look lame.

"Hey don't blank out this time." A black kid says.

"Right." I say. Now Bobby's up to hit. He's a great hitter, but I can catch. He hits and it goes far but I run as far out field as I can and I catch it.

"Throw it to third!" One boy yells. I decide against it. I run as fast as I can to third. I'm tailing Bobby before he gets home and I tackle him right to the ground.

"I got you!" I say as we're covered in dirt.

"What the fuck Nicki?" He pushes me off.

"I got you. You're out." I say.

"This isn't football you idiot!"

I frown.

"I don't think he should play." Someone says.

"Sorry." I say. I throw the ball to someone and turn.

"Nicki!" Bobby calls. "Come on. Just don't tackle me again." He says I smile.

"All right." Some of them give him odd looks.

"He can catch," Bobby says,

"That was a good catch." Someone else says. I smile.

One of the boys strikes out so it's my teams turn to bat. I'm up third. I don't hit as well as I catch, but I did pretty well.

Ultimately, our team lost. Losing to Bobby's nothing, though. We were nearly even. The other guys leave and Bobby and I walk home together.

"You did good. You know, except for the attack. And what was up with that anyway?" Bobby says.

"I don't know. I thought you thought I couldn't catch you." I say.

"I know you can. We played all the time." He says.

"Of course." I laugh. "America's favorite past time."

"We live in Manitoba." Bobby laughs.

"No duh." I tell him and he pushes me. I push him back. He shoves me, I shove him. He tackles me.

"I thought this wasn't football!" I laugh.

"We're not playing baseball moron." He says pinning me down.

"Yeah." I look into his blue eyes. He's so gorgeous. He puts his face down closer to mine. What is he doing? We're hidden in a tall field of grass. No one would see us…I do it. I put my head up and I peck his lips. He makes no noise and sits up on top of me. He slowly wipes his lips with the back of his hand.

I remember that. He did it all the time when we were 12, to mock me. It had been the first time I kissed him.

He slips from my waist and stands up. I sit up to look at him.

"See you later." Bobby leaves in the direction his house. I lay back in the grass.

What are we? What does he think we are? I love him. I would do anything for him.

I wish I understood him better…his lips are so soft too.

I lay in the field for a few hours until the stars come out. I think I missed supper, but I couldn't stand sitting at a table with that Roy guy. I stand and trudge in the direction of home, but then remember I left my bag in the field where we played. I go back.

It's around seven thirty something when I look around and see my khaki messenger bag sitting on a picnic table. Someone's sitting there.

I pay them no mind and reach for it but they cover it with their hand. They're cloaked in black.

"Excuse me, but this is my bag." I say but the hand doesn't move.

"This your bag here, boy?" It was a man's voice. It's fast and high. Like an America who lives in the south it sounded.

"Yes. I just said that." I say.

"Hmm…" The man nods.

"Can I have it?"

It's quiet. He doesn't answer me. I put my hand on the bag.

"You like pussy, boy?" He asks and I stare at the blackness. I can't see his face.

"What?"

"Or cock?" He snatches the bag and turns to show his face. It wore a long hideous nose, boiled face and ominous eyes. There's some white at the top of his head under a black hat. He looks like a monstrous crow.

I step back. He was disgusting, so creepy. My books, my books are in there…

"I-I don't know…" I say.

"You don't know?" He asks then he steps toward me, I step back. "You a queer, boy?"

I just stare as I back away.

"Well?" He comes toward me.

"I-I'm not!" I say as he's only a foot or so in front of me. "Can I just have my bag? Please!" My heart's beating so fast. I had never been so afraid in my life.

He throws the bag at my chest and it hits hard. I nearly gag.

"Why are you doing this? Who are you?" I ask and he turns.

"Crows see everything boy." He says then he disperses into a bunch of black feathers and flies off.

Was I hallucinating? Or did that happen. I look around the pitch blackness, no one.

I run home.


	3. Home

THIS HOME SHE LEFT ME BEHIND IN

~Bobby~

My dad yelled about me being late for supper since it was a school night. He left me a swollen cheek too. He's been drinking again.

My mom asked me the other day how I felt about leaving and moving, I asked her "What about dad?" That had made her cringe.

And she hasn't spoken to me about it since.

After dinner I went to my room and locked the door. I lay there for a while and I think of calling Nicki. I could always talk to him but sometimes he'd make it weird. Apart of me really doesn't mind.

Nah.

The next day at school we actually start doing work. I'm also thinking of signing up for baseball, which doesn't start until the second semester.

Today Nicki asked if he could sit with me and my friends at lunch, I didn't mind but some of my friends thought he was strange, which he is.

"Hey Bobby." Jenna says at lunch.

"Hey." I say coolly.

"Mind if we sit?" She and her _cousin_, Vicki, stand there.

"Nah, help yourself." I say and I look at Nicki who's seated at the end on the other side. Jenna sits next to me, and her cousin Vicki sits on the other side next to Nicki. Nicki looks awkward but Vicki keeps trying to talk to him. It's a little pathetic.

"You throwin' any parties Jenna?" I ask.

"No not until Halloween. I'm throwing a huge costume party at this fire hall. My parents already rented it out." She says.

"Sounds cool." I say.

"I was wondering if you all wanted to come." She asks basically everyone at the table.

"Sounds cool. October 31st?"

"Yeah." She says.

"What's so special about Halloween?" Nicki asks while eating.

"I don't know. It's just Halloween." Jenna says curtly.

"It'll be so fun." Vicki smiles.

"Yeah…I bet." Nicki frowns.

"Nicholas, why are you so weird?" Jenna asks and we all look at her. "You've always been so…strange. Do you hate everyone or something?"

"No." Nicki says.

"Then what's your problem?" Jenna glares at him. "You don't like me?"

"I never said that." Nicki's voice rises.

"Then what?!" Jenna goes off.

"Jenna, calm down." Vicki says.

I laugh to break up the tension. "Yeah it's just Nicki. He's weird, don't bother yelling at him." I say, but I see Nicki give me that puppy dog look. The one I can't stand. He leaves and sits somewhere else.

"Nicholas." Vicki says but he keeps walking. "Nice going Jenna." Vicki frowns.

"Ugh, he's such a weirdo. Why do you even like him?" Jenna asks Vicki.

"Shut up. Stop being a bitch." Vicki says.

"Ugh," Jenna scoffs. "What about you Bobby? He's you're friend."

"…"

"Well?" Jenna keeps saying.

"I wouldn't say all that." I tell her. Then I keep eating. I'll talk to Nicki later.

After school, I head straight home. After the bus ride, I find Nicki and I decide to talk to him.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey." He says. He tends to sound down but it's just him being him.

"Hey uh, I'm sorry about today. At lunch." I say.

"What about it?" He asks.

"I should've stood up for you." I say.

"No, it's fine." He says.

"Nicki, quit it with the passive aggressive shit." I grab his arm. "Seriously, it gets old." I tell him and he then looks at me.

"You're cheek looks pretty swollen." He says.

"Yeah." I release his arm and hold my cheek.

"Your dad?" He asks.

I don't answer.

"Maybe you should quit with the passive aggressive stuff too Bobby." He says then walks off. I look in his direction. Kind of pissed, I don't say a thing. I just go home.

At dinner it's quiet, as usual. My mom and dad don't talk and I don't try to make them. It's always been like this. It's why I used to spend a lot of time with Nicki. He had his shed. He'd stay in there all day doing lord knows what. It's nice to have somewhere to escape to though.

Up in my room, I hear it all.

"Stop drink goddamn it Harold!" My mom yells downstairs.

"Shut your damn mouth!" My dad yells. There's a slam, a smash and some more noise and I ignore it. I listen to some music until it doesn't cover there fighting anymore. I stare out my window. The air's still warm. I look outside and see a few crows. Gross.

I want to ignore for a little longer since they always do this bullshit. But then I hear something I haven't heard before,

"Alice? Alice, where the hell are you going?" I hear my dad. "You think you're leaving me? To hell with you!"

She said she'd take me…

As I look out my window I see my mom walking. She has a suitcase. She keeps going…and going.

She left me. My heart beats all fast and I feel sick and sort of scared. No I am scared. My mom really abandoned me. When dad would get in his broken moods, my mom would tell me it would all be okay. She's been saying that less and less. Looking even more stressed out. I guess she thought I'd stand up to him, but I'm sure she just couldn't take it anymore.

So she leaves? What will she do? Stay with my grandmother? Flee the country? Maybe she even has another man.

I don't know or care. All I know is that she's gone and I don't know what to do about it.

Call Nicki? What can he do?

Run away? And go where?

There's rattling on my bedroom door.

"Bobby!" My dad screams. "Open up this fucking door!"

I don't say anything. I think I even started crying. Fuck I'm scared, so scared.

My dad busts the door down and all the anger he's built up is unleashed on me.


	4. Ian

IAN

~Nicholas~

It's the middle of October and I haven't hung out with Bobby since the second week of September. He's been acting weird and hasn't been talking to me. He's been hanging with the cool kids; Jenna, Vicki, and the jocks.

School has been duller but I was actually getting used to hanging out with that Ian kid.

"Hey Nick." He has a habit of calling me now. Dark hair, big dark eyes and skin paler than mine, he might be the closest thing to the polar opposite of Bobby as our school has to offer. That might be why I can stand being friends with him right now too.

"Hey Ian." I say.

"Oh man that pop quiz was horrible." He says.

"What you didn't do well?" I ask.

"Oh I'm sure I aced it, but I," He goes on about his grades and how easy the test is. Hanging with Ian causes a sense of melancholy within me but we're the only two uncool enough to hang out with one another.

"Sounds cool," I smile. Half listening, I've been staring at Bobby. He had a new cut on his face or arm every other day. We live close, but it'd be easier to talk to him if we were still on the same bus. I moved a while back because of my mom's husband but it was luckily still pretty close to Bobby's house. We went to different middle schools, but I was happy to know there was one high school; really happy. Now, if I stopped over his house, it wouldn't be too strange, but I don't want to intrude. If it were a little problem, Bobby would have told me.

There's something really up, and it's killing me.

"So?" Ian asks.

"Huh?" I wasn't paying attention at all and I feel a bit guilt-ridden.

"Jenna's party. We'd never get invited to something like that." Ian laughs while he eats.

"I was invited." I say and he looks at me like I'm some sort of god. Like me being asked to a popular girl's party makes me someone incredible.

"No way." Ian says awestruck.

"Not necessarily by her, but by her cousin."

"Who's her cousin?" He asks.

'Vicki."

"Wait Vicki Matlin and Jenna Solare are cousins?"

"Apparently." I shrug.

"But," Ian goes on again about blacks and whites and interracial families. I again barely listen. I was going to make it a goal to talk to Bobby today.

After school I find him as fast as I can before he gets on his bus.

"Bobby!" I call.

"Yeah?" He says.

"…" I stop now. I'm not sure what to say.

"What Nicholas, I'm gonna miss my bus." He says irritated.

"We haven't talked in weeks. What's up?" I try to smile.

"Nicholas we've been at school all day, and you wait until the end of the day to talk to me?"

"Well we haven't been talking. I didn't know what was up." I say.

"Well?"

"Well can I call you or something tonight? Before supper or maybe I could come over?"

"No." He says quickly. I stare at him. He's never turned me down when I wanted to go to his house. "I mean…" he looks down. "Not today. I'll call you."

"Tonight?"

"Maybe." He says then runs off. I walk to my bus; actually, more in the direction very sluggishly. In fact I miss it. And, I don't really care. I sit on a bench in front of the school for a bit. A bit longer than I thought as the after school clubs are departing.

"Hey Nick!" Ian comes out.

"Ian? Why're you here?"

"Drama." He says.

"Drama?"

"Yeah, I'm in the play. You should audition." He says confidently.

"If auditions aren't over, how'd you get a part?"

"Stage crew."

"Stage crew." I nod. "When are auditions?"

"Until next Wednesday." He says and I consider it. It's only Monday.

"Wanna walk somewhere? My mom can take you home." Ian asks. He keeps smiling.

"I don't have that much money on me." I say dejectedly. Ian smiles and then puts his arm around me. "I'll treat you." He says sincerely and I force a smile.

We walk to a fast food joint. I order some fries and a soda.

"Man, this stuff makes you fat." Ian frowns.

"I've never heard a boy say that." I laugh.

"Well I'm weird." Ian looks out the window.

"No weirder than me." I say and he smiles at me and then stops eating.

"What's wrong?"

"Can I ask you something Nick?" He says quietly.

"Go for it." I slowly eat.

He whispers something over the table that I don't catch.

"Speak up."

More inaudible gibberish.

"What?" I say once more.

"Are you gay?!" I look around then I look down. My face goes hot in embarrassment.

"No Ian. I'm not." I say.

"Oh. " He smiles embarrassed.

"Why?" I ask him.

"Just wondering." He says then looks out the window. The rest of the meal's awkward. Well to say the least.

"When's your mom coming?" I ask him.

"We can go somewhere else. I didn't call her yet." Ian says.

"Like where?" I ask.

"I don't know." The ashen boy shrugs.

I look up then out at the road. "What about the park?"

"Sounds good." He smiles and we go there. We swing, we go on the carousel, and we play on those little horses made of metal and plastic that we were too big for. I laughed so much for no reason. It was a lot of fun for some reason.

I lie on the grass and look up at the blue sky. Ian lies next to me. "Wanna know the real reason I joined Drama?" He asks me.

"Why?"

"Look at this." He sits up and pulls out a bag with green hash inside it. I'd heard about it, but I had never tried drugs.

"Is that what I think it is?" I ask innocently.

"Yeah." Ian grins. "There's this girl in the play who's selling it. We're cool so she gave me some. Wanna try?"

"Don't you need…paper?"

"Oh yeah…" Ian looks dumbfounded. "I heard you can eat it though."

"I don't want to eat hash."

"Oh come on."

"What does it taste like?"

"…I don't know." He says. Ian puts the hash away and we lie on the ground for a bit longer.

"Is this fun?" Ian asks.

"…yeah I guess." I say.

"Hmm."

"You're not having fun?" I ask him.

"I don't care. We can do whatever. I'm just happy to be out the house." He laughs weakly.

Ian is insecure. He doesn't have a lot of friends. He asked me if I was gay. He's willing to be friends with me…

"Are you gay Ian?" I ask him.

"What?" He asks but he's smiling. His lip quivers a bit.

"Honestly. I don't care." I say.

He looks at me. "You said you weren't."

"You're my friend Ian. I didn't know what you'd say." I tell him. I force a smile and he stares at me. He looks up.

"I never told anyone. Everyone already thinks I'm weird." Ian stares up at the sky. "If I was gay too? Then what Nick?"

I turn to him and I smile. "Who cares?"

He looks at me. "You don't?"

If Bobby's going to ignore me, I'll try something.

"I don't." While we lay on the grass, I hold his hand. His face gets red, very red. I scoot closer to him and I kiss him.

His mother comes and gets us and in my parting he only smiles. My mother stays at home all day, and greets me when she sees me come from an unknown car.

"Who was that Nicholas?" She asks from the porch.

"My friend Ian. We hung out at the diner then went to the park for a bit. His mom picked us up." I explain.

"I've never heard of this Ian." She says.

"I just met him. We've talked and stuff but I missed my bus and figured I'd just hang out with him. He's on stage crew."

"Stage crew." She nods. "Why don't you get involved in something extracurricular? Stay busy like Robert?" She suggests.

"Perhaps." I shrug. "Ian said I should audition for the play."

My mother smiles. "That sounds nice."

"Sure does." I walk into the house. No Roy. I decide to take a shower; A long shower. Regardless of anything I put in Ian's head, Bobby's all I think about.

No one can replace what I want though.


	5. Withdrawal

WITHDRAWAL

~Bobby~

I haven't talked to Nicki in weeks. He's been hanging with that weird kid. I can't even remember his name, but they've been spending a lot of time together. Nicki hasn't called me and he hasn't even tried to sit with me at lunch or anything. He's always with that guy. I'm almost jealous.

Jenna's party is in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking of dressing like a werewolf or something. A lot of guys say they don't want to even dress up. Seems like a waste. I'd be able to talk to Nicki about this but whatever.

"What are you dressing as Bobby?" Jenna asks me. I decided to walk her home.

"Maybe a werewolf." I say coolly.

"Ooo, sounds cool."

"What about you?" I ask her smiling.

"It's a surprise." She rubs my arm. Me and her just might be an item, or we could be. We're in front of her house now.

"Would you like to come in for a bit? My parents aren't gonna be home until later." She says. My eyebrows go up and down.

"Sure." I say then I head inside with her. We take off her coats.

"You want something to drink?"

"Some water would be cool." I say.

"Ok." She smirks and heads to the kitchen. I make myself comfortable on the couch. I turn the TV and put on the music channel. She comes back into the room with two glasses and a bottle of liquor.

"I'm guessing you don't have any water?" I chuckle. She smiles. She pours us each a glass then she sits on the couch next to me, putting her legs on my lap.

"You know," She starts and I look at her. "I think you're really sweet Bobby."

"I think you're pretty cool too Jenna." I say. She smiles of course. She was easily amused but, maybe it was my charm, or my looks, or the fact I'm the fastest guy on the baseball team, but the popular, gorgeous Jenna really has taken a shine to me the past few months.

She takes her legs off my lap and leans in real close to me. I pull back a little though. "A toast?"

"To what?" The ebony girl asks.

"How gorgeous you are." I say and peck her cheek. Then we sip our drinks. She blushes and moves in for my lips but I cover them with a finger.

"What is it?" She asks.

"You want to be my girlfriend?" I ask her. She looks down then at me, blushing hard. "Then I'm your boyfriend now." I say. I scoot her off me a little. "I've gotta go now." I tell her.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" She asks.

"Sorry. I really didn't mean to come in. I've got to get home." I say as I stand.

"Do I get a kiss?" She stands.

I peck her cheek again. "See you later." She holds her cheek slightly disappointed as I leave her house.

Was that…Awkward?

I steal the telephone before dad gets home from work. I lock myself in my room, and finally call Nicholas.

"Hello?" I hear a sweet voice. It was Nicki's mom. She's real nice, just spacy and stuff. Sort of like Nicholas.

"Hey, this is Bobby, is Nicholas there?"

"Oh, Robert. We haven't heard from you in some time? How've you been?"

"I'm great. How are you Mrs.K?" I ask.

"Oh I'm fine. Nicholas has been a bit down lately since you two haven't been spending much time together." Nicki's mother says. I smile. "But he's been spending a lot of time with this boy, Ian. Do you know him?"

"No. I don't."

"Hmm, well maybe you all could hang out one day. Nicholas has really taken a shine to him." She says. I frown.

"I see. Well do you know where he is?" I ask.

"I believe he is at the school, auditioning for the play." She tells me. The play?

"Oh. I didn't know he was into that stuff. Will you tell him I called?"

"I sure will Robert. Stop by sometime." She says.

"I will when I get the chance Mrs. K. Thanks." I hang up. I bite my lip. I really thought I could call him whenever. Looks like I took advantage of him.

Fuck. I put the phone back and slouch on the couch for a few hours. I end up falling asleep and my dad gets home.

He gives me a surly look.

"Hey dad." I say. He only frowns and heads to the kitchen and grabs a beer.

More than sluggishly, I somehow get to my room. I sit on my bed now and don't have anything to do. I'm not leaving without my dad's permission. Of course, there's nowhere to go.

Everything kind of sucks without Nicki. I look outside and see a whole swarm of Crows outside my window. It's so creepy. I close my blinds and go to sleep early.

I sort of cried that night.


	6. Kimberly

KIMBERLY

~Nicholas~

Its two weeks until Halloween.

I auditioned for the play just to have something to do. Ian talks my ear off, and calls my house and it gets annoying, but what of it? We're friends. I mean, I guess he figures we're something more, but we're not.

The play is really stupid, it's supposed to be a comedy, but I don't find it very funny. Ian nearly dies of laughter when I read parts of the script to him. There was one thing I could stand about hanging out with Ian though, the girl in the play who gives him drugs and hangs out with us.

The sweet and red headed, Kimberly.

She laughs at something stupid I say and looks at me with a smile. "Really Nicholas?"

"Nick's really cool. Right, Kim?" Ian laughs.

"He is." The redhead nods. "What do you do for fun Nicholas?"

"Up until maybe two years ago, I used to play baseball all the time with my friend. We don't really talk anymore though." I was obviously referring to Bobby.

"Hmm. Well that sucks." Kimberly shrugs. She doesn't linger on the past by what I've noticed about her.

"Who're you talking about?" Ian has to ask.

"No one." I shrug. "I've got new friends now."

"Sure do. If he doesn't want anything to do with you, you don't need to have anything to do with him." Kimberly says.

"You're right." I say. I look into her hazel eyes. She's really pretty and really cool.

Ian offers to take me home, I kindly decline. I decide to walk Kimberly home.

"We've met before." She says.

"Have we?" I thought I recognized her, but I wasn't sure.

"At that one party like 3 years ago." She smiles. "We kissed playing 7 minutes in heaven."

It all shot back to me and I blushed. 7 minutes in heaven at Jenna's party. Bobby had dragged me to it. "We didn't kiss or anything. You only made it look like that." I say.

Kimberly then smiles. "I was just seeing what kind of guy you are. Not a lot of guys would admit to that." She says. I didn't really know what she meant.

"Should I have lied?" I say.

"No. It's good to be honest Nick." She calls me as we reach her house.

"I prefer Nicholas if that's all right." I tell her.

"Nick. Nicholas. They're just names." Kimberly shrugs. She is right, but I really hate being called Nick; doesn't suit me.

"You're right." I say. Kimberly then looks me clear in the eyes.

"No. It's you're call, Nicholas." She says.

"Hmm?"

"You need to be more honest and assertive. Not just naïve." Kimberly says. She puts her hand on my shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"This is your world Nicholas. You don't have to do everything for everyone else." She tells me. I like what I hear.

I smile at her. "Can we hang out again? Just us?"

"Anytime." She says. She goes into her house now and I start home. She doesn't live too close to me at all.

But I don't mind the long walk home today.

When I get home, my mom tells me that Bobby had called looking for me. I blushed so much when she told me she actually asked if I had a fever. It was late so I didn't call him back.

Bobby kept being distant at school, so I decided I'd play his game and put all my time into Kimberly and Ian.

Well, mostly Kimberly.

In the passing week, I learn that Kimberly loves music, theater, smoking cigarettes and the color teal. We now smoke together now. It's really gross but she likes it, so I like it. We hang out at the park every day after rehearsal. The play's in November and Jenna's Halloween party is this weekend. At the diner, I bring it up.

"Jenna? Who's Jenna?" Kimberly says after I ask her to accompany me to the Halloween party.

"She's the girl who throws all the parties." I say.

"Ooooh." Kimberly makes this cute face. "Um no."

"Why not?"

"I know who Jenna is. She's a bitch. I wouldn't be caught dead at one of her parties." Kimberly says surprising harsh.

"Well you don't have to go." I tell her.

"I wouldn't." Kimberly sips down her shake then gives me a peculiar glance. "You're not going are you?"

"I considered it." I tell her and she frowns.

"But, we could hang out. Jenna's no one you want to hang out with." She tries to persuade.

"I really kind of want to go." I say.

"Then go Nicholas!" Kimberly stands and storms out the diner.

It was sort of weird seeing her so mad. Also, she didn't pay her end of the meal. I don't mind paying it, but I thought I'd point that out. I pay the entire bill then just go home since the diner isn't too far from my house.

On the way, I actually run into Bobby near the field. He was hitting rocks with his bat.

"Bobby!" I say a little happier then I meant.

"Hey Nicky." He says kind of lowly. His face has a fresh cut and his arm is a little bruised. He also has bags under his eyes. He looked like a zombie.

"You okay? Sorry for not calling you back. I've been busy with play rehearsal and-"

"Save it Nicky. I know you're mad at me."

"I'm not." I say.

"No, you should be. I've been a total dick." Bobby doesn't look at me when he says this.

"Bobby…" I step toward him and he stops swinging and points the bat at me.

"Just tell me you're mad." He says and I furrow my eyebrows confusedly.

"I'm not mad." I tell him.

"Why not?" He asks.

"Because I try not to be."

"Well you should be!" He says. It sounds like he's tearing up.

"Why?" I ask him.

"Because," He finally turns and I can see his eyes are red and full of tears. "When someone treats you like shit, you hate them and forget about them. If you aren't mad at me, why have you been hanging out with that girl and that pale dude?"

I look at him. "You don't want to hang out with me. Do you?"

He doesn't say anything. He sort of just looks at me like a miserable pup.

"You told me to make other friends. I have." I shrug. "I'll see you later Bobby. I'll see you at Jenna's party?"

He looks at me curiously. "You're going this weekend?"

"Yeah, it sounds fun." I say.

"I…I can't wait to see you there." Bobby forces a smile. I give him a hug because it looks like he needs one.

"Take care of yourself Bobby." I say and he squeezes me kind of tight.

"I really need to talk to you." He says.

"Not today. But soon okay? It's almost supper." I tell him.

He nods. "Yeah." He turns. "I'll see you Nicky?"

"Yeah." I say then head off home.

My face is all hot. I didn't realize how much I missed Bobby.

And how much he missed me.


	7. Halloween

_A/N "***" means the PoV has changed. I may start changing it more frequently during chapters so beware. Now enjoy Because it's about to get REAL good.:D_

HALLOWEEN

~Bobby~

My werewolf costume kicks ass. I bought the suit but I had a few touches to make it I just need my dad's permission to go out.

"Who the hell is Jenna?" He asks sitting on the sofa facing the TV.

"My girlfriend."

"You're talking about that little black girl?" He says.

I nod.

He grimaces slightly. "Yeah you can go. You better not bring anyone back here though. In fact, I don't give a damn when you get home. Just don't get into any fucking trouble. You understand?" He says.

"Yes." I say. He waves me away as he opens another can of beer. I leave for Jenna's to change.

~Nicholas~

I'm at home contemplating going to this Halloween party. I don't really enjoy big social events. I find them really awkward. I really was putting the whole thing behind me, but Ian decided to come over in his elaborate costume all giddy and I would have felt terrible…

So I gave in.

"You're costume needs work." Ian says. He remembered where I lived and decided we would go to the party together. "Here." He stands real close and adjusts the tie I'm wearing.

I'm dressed zombie. I borrowed some of the stage make up. With Ian's help, it became a pretty convincing costume. I wore my dad's old tuxedo(Which was kind of big since I'm so skinny), some of my mom's face powder(To look pale…paler than Ian) and the stage makeup(giving a brain eating vibe to the costume). I like it a lot more than I think I should. I look downright horrid and I love it.

"You look great." Ian says. We're up in my room killing time. He made friends with my mom by flattering her with his sophistication and seemed to make himself at home. He made himself real comfy on my bed too. He had been here a few hours and kept flirting with me. I tried to stay blasé to it though.

"So who do you know at this party?" Ian asks while lying on my bed.

"Well my friend Bobby's gonna be there." I say sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Bobby who?"

"Bobby Redwin." I say.

"Oh, him. Everyone keeps talking about how he'll be the star of the baseball team and stuff." Ian says rather blandly.

"Well did you see his stats last year?" I sort of brag in Bobby's favor.

"No." Ian says scathingly. "In case you hadn't notice, I don't care for sports."

I furrow my brows. I sort of…wanted to smack him. No, I'm something of a pacifist. Ian can take me there with his attitude though.

Ian frowns. "Sorry."

"I mean, I was only saying." I say.

"Yeah I know." He stands in front of me. His paleness and fake fangs were kind of cute in a way. "I'm just a little jealous I guess." He says then puts his arms around my neck and attempts a kiss but my mom knocks on the door.

"Nicholas?"

I push Ian away out impulse and he scoffs. "Sorry." I say quietly. "Yes?" I answer my mother.

"I'm going out with Roy tonight. Don't forget your key when you get home all right?"

"Yes mom." I say.

"Okay. You two have fun tonight. I love you." She says.

I blush a bit. "Love you too." I can hear Ian giggle. My mom walks out and Ian grabs my waist after I shut the door.

"I don't really feel like doing this Ian."

"Doing what?"

"Touching and whatnot." I say.

"Oh." He steps back awkwardly.

"We can just watch some TV." I say and he nods. We stay in the living room until it's near time for the party to start.

My stomach feels so heavy as we head to Jenna's.

Girls are really annoying. As soon as I got to Jenna's she tackles me and seizes my lips. No one's touched my lips except Nicki…seriously.

"Hey Baby." Jenna smiles, she has a lot of makeup and glitter and she's barely clothed. "You're early. We're not even done changing."

"Oh sorry." I say somewhat apologetically. She IS the one who told me to come a bit early. "Um, who else is here?"

"Just me and Vicki." She giggles. She and Vicki are always together. It's so annoying.

"Um, you can change in the basement. We'll be up in my room. Make yourself at home." She says.

She goes up to her room and I make my way to her nice basement. It's the same as it's been since the last time I was here, except the furniture a bit switched around, and there's a flat screen TV. Her parents must be loaded; of course, I have no idea what they do for a living.

I change into my outfit kind of tiredly. Nicki said he'd come, but then what? Am I just gonna sweep him off the floor and dance with him or something. I can't really even talk to him. This party better be fun because I really need it right now.


End file.
